Regents Approve Design For University Camp Development

Plans for an enhanced outdoor recreation area for Sam Houston State University moved forward on Friday as the Texas State University System Board of Regents approved design documents prepared by TGB Partners of Houston landscape architecture and planning firm.

The project application will now go to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for approval. Once approved, the university will develop construction documents to build a camp facility 15 miles northeast of the main campus to accommodate 200 participants overnight.

Plans call for four residence halls, a 50-by-80-foot assembly building, a multipurpose field in the central camp area, an outdoor swimming pool, and site improvements to include walking trails. The estimated cost of the project is $4.9 million. More than half the funding will go toward infrastructure campsite development.

The 345-acre parcel of land near Riverside was donated to Sam Houston State by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in 2001. The university remodeled an existing indoor pavilion in 2003 and built a new outdoor pavilion, a high and low elements challenge course, and made other property improvements in preparation for completing projects identified by the master plan in 2010.

“The proposed overnight accommodations and multipurpose facilities will allow the University Camp to utilize its own in-house resources for freshman and transfer camps, in lieu of renting other retreat sites,” SHSU President Dana Gibson told the regents. “This phase moves the university closer to realizing its vision for an overnight retreat site with several outdoor amenities as requested by the SHSU student body.”

The university has rented Forest Glen Camp outside of Huntsville as the location of its annual Bearkat Camp since the program began in 2009. This summer approximately 500 freshman and transfer students attended three sessions of the four-day program, in which they participated in recreational activities and learned about the customs and traditions of the university.

In other business, the regents authorized Sam Houston State to purchase real estate consisting of approximately 15 acres at 615 16th St. and 2.8 acres at 2207 Ave. J in Huntsville. Plans for the properties include campus expansion to accommodate the university’s growth and new student housing.

The university was also authorized to enter into a renewed contract with Barnes & Noble Booksellers, LLC, to manage and operate the University Bookstore in the Lowman Student Center through June 30, 2022. Barnes & Noble has operated the bookstore since 1999.

In financial business, the regents approved SHSU’s operating budget of $245 million for the upcoming fiscal year, beginning Sept. 1.

The regents will hold their next meeting at Sam Houston State University Nov. 15-16.

The Texas State University System is governed by a nine-member Board of Regents appointed by the governor. In addition, a non-voting student regent is appointed annually to the board. Its eight component institutions are Sam Houston State University, Lamar University, Sul Ross State University, Sul Ross State University Rio Grande College, Lamar Institute of Technology, Lamar State College-Orange, Lamar State College-Port Arthur, and Texas State University-San Marcos.